Health and Love
by Kristen3
Summary: Daphne's attempt to get David to try broccoli leads to unexpected realizations about her family and what they mean to her. One-shot.


**Author's Note:** This is a bit of fluff inspired by niece. Was a bit harder to write than I expected, but I think the result was worth it! :)

Daphne smiled as she sat down to dinner with Niles and three-year-old David. Usually, this would be a pleasant time, where she would hear about her husband's day at work, and in turn, she would share her daily struggle with her father-in-law's therapy. But lately, dinner wasn't quite as peaceful as it should be.

Because she well remembered her battle with her weight, Daphne was determined to start David's healthy eating habits early. It was far easier to do that than to deal with a child who was already used to eating sweets. To this end, she had been doing her best to get her son to try vegetables.

Unfortunately, her efforts were far from successful. David was clearly following in his grandfather's footsteps at a young age. "Come on, David, eat your vegetables." Daphne pushed the plate toward him. On it were several pieces of broccoli, which Daphne hoped her son would like. After all, he wouldn't often have a chance to eat a tree!

But her plan quickly backfired, as David responded with a firm "Yuck!"

"Don't you want to be like Daddy?" she asked. Like her, Niles was also conscious of what he ate, ever since his open-heart surgery years ago. He still liked his gourmet food, but he had cut back considerably.

"No!" David's answer was immediate.

"Oh, David, please?" Daphne resorted to begging.

Niles reached across the table, squeezing his wife's hand. "My love, calm down. I'm sure David's just going through a phase. He's testing his limits, that's all."

"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one who'll be dealing with him when he wants to eat nothing but junk food!"

"I know how important this is to you," Niles said. "But the more you push him, the more David's going to resist. You don't want to get into a battle of wills with a toddler."

Daphne sighed, finally realizing that her husband had a point. Before she could tell him so, the doorbell rang. "Who could that be?" Daphne wondered as she got up to answer it.

She opened the door to see Martin standing there, with Ronee by his side. "Hey!" Martin said in greeting.

"Hello. What brings you two by?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I hope we're not intruding, but we just got back from our camping trip, and Marty wanted to see David."

Daphne smiled at her stepmother-in-law. "Of course not. You're family! Come in." She stepped back. Though she did not say so out loud, Daphne was grateful for the interruption. The battle over David's vegetables could be forgotten.

"Hey, Dad," Niles said when his father and Ronee entered the room.

Martin responded with a wave, but his attention was clearly on David. "Hey there, buddy. How you doing?"

"Yuck!" David said, pushing away the plate Daphne had put in front of him.

"David!" Daphne scolded.

Martin saw how upset she was, but he shrugged it off. "Daph, it's no big deal. Kids can be picky eaters sometimes."

Daphne did her best to remain calm. "I just want me son to learn to eat healthy while he's young, before he starts eating all kinds of junk food. You know, like someone else I know?"

"I'm not that bad," Martin protested. "Ronee's actually got me eating a lot healthier than I used to. I may not always like it, but what can I do?"

Ronee laughed. "He makes it sound like I'm torturing him, but I don't hear him complaining! At least not much, anyway."

"You see, my love? Dad's changed his eating habits, and I bet Ronee didn't make that happen by yelling at him."

"No. I have my own ways to get your father to do what I want." She smiled mischievously, causing Niles to look away. He understood what his stepmother meant, but it was still odd to hear her say such a thing about his father.

Martin kissed his wife. He could never be ungrateful for all she'd done for him. But then he looked over at Niles and Daphne, remembering all _they_ had done for him, long before Ronee reentered his life. Suddenly, he hobbled over to David's highchair. He lifted his grandson out, so that he could speak to him eye-to-eye. "You know you're my favorite guy, right?"

David giggled. "Yeah."

"Well, I know your mom can be a bit annoying sometimes, telling you what to do and all that. Believe me, I know _exactly_ what it's like."

Daphne couldn't help laughing, remembering the many battles they'd had over the years about his therapy.

"But I probably wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for her. And she's kind of got a point about all this healthy-eating stuff. So why don't you do your old grandpa a favor and eat some veggies? You might even find you like them!"

Martin's words had mostly gone over his grandson's head, but he giggled anyway. Martin kissed his cheek before putting him back in his seat.

Daphne sat down once again. Despite everyone's insistence that she not push the issue, she just had to try one more time. She held up a single broccoli, offering it to her son. "Come on, David. Don't you want to eat a little tree?"

"Go on, Dave," Martin encouraged the boy.

To everyone's amazement, David actually reached out a tiny hand, accepting the food his mother offered. He bit into it, eating the "branches." The adults waited anxiously to see his reaction. Seconds later, he was grinning, then laughing when he saw he'd done something right. Daphne doubted she'd ever heard a more beautiful sound. She turned to the other couple. "Would you two like to stay for dinner?"

"That's really nice of you, but we've got a lot of unpacking to do," Ronee said.

"Yeah," Martin agreed. "After that, we'll probably find some other stuff to do." He raised his eyebrows knowingly.

"I think we better go before Niles loses his appetite," Ronee said, noting the way Niles suddenly seemed a bit nauseous.

"I'll walk you out," Daphne offered. The three of them made their way to the door. Just before Martin and Ronee were about to leave, Daphne suddenly felt a rush of affection for her former patient. "Thank you for coming," she said, pulling him into an unexpected hug.

Martin hardly knew what to say as Daphne kissed his cheek. "Aw," he said. "It was no big deal. I just had to see my favorite little guy."

"I'm so glad me son has a grandfather like you." Daphne smiled, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Well, we love David," Ronee said. "Martin says being around a little kid keeps him young."

"I hope you two know you're both welcome here anytime." Daphne opened the door for them.

Martin and Ronee nodded, waving their goodbyes once more.

When they left, Daphne found herself standing there, frozen at the front door for a moment. She turned her attention back to the table, where her husband and son still sat. No matter her daily frustrations, she couldn't ask for a better life. And all of it had come about by a twist of fate which landed her on the Cranes' doorstep so many years ago. She walked toward her family, silently saying a prayer of thanks for everything she had.

 **The End**


End file.
